Yeah, we suck!

Okay so we definitely suck at keeping this thing updated. Thought I should though since I was complaining about other people not updating theirs and I wouldn't want my glass house to break from all my stone throwing.

So here's an update of our fabulous lives...

...Brian

Brian has finished his first year of his Masters. He spent an awesome time this summer in New York and has some great stories and pictures from that trip that maybe you will see some day. Currently he is working his butt off at one too many jobs and trying going to school. He will be needing lots of support, which I will be supplying! One of his new jobs is working at the UI Sustainability Center, which is a really amazing opportunity for him and he's really enjoying it. We're not seeing much of each other, but we still do see each other sometimes and are having a blast together (can't believe we've been married for almost four years)!

...Kelly

I finished up my Masters in Teaching this June. I'm happy I did it and really glad its done. Started being a TA for the chemistry department again (which is really nice...happy to be back in the Chemistry department). I also started taking a Nuclear Reactor Operations class to learn how to become a Reactor Operator. Yeah, you read that right. I started training on Friday and am looking to take the exam in January to get my license. It's been a really amazing experience just this week and I'm looking forward to learning doing more everyday.

The above picture is a picture of the core of the WSU reactor (the windows in the back are to the control room...that's where I sit!). The blue glow is from electrons moving faster than the speed of light through water, creating something kind of like a sonic boom. On Friday I got to actually start up and bring to full power the reactor. I myself created this glow...I'm a little proud. This new goal for me is something that is really exciting. I am really passionate about something for the first time in a while (at least since the whole education program bust). It's definitely something that I wasn't planning on in the beginning but is going to be really beneficial for Brian and I.

Be prepared in the next few months to hear a lot about this, and to learn more than you ever wanted to about reactors and nuclear chemistry...

...get excited people!

New Google Toys

So there are a few things in this world that I despise. First, dumb voicemail messages (see "After the Beep") Second, group projects. Third, syncing (see "Why Can't Microsoft Play Nice?" and "I am a Syncing Fiend").

The voicemail hatred should be self-explanatory as well as my syncing woes. The group projects thing ... basically it comes down to logistics. By the time the group figures out what time to meet, who should take care of what, when to collaborate, etc. etc. I feel like most of the time I could have just done the project myself. While I'm never going to get away from voicemail, group projects or syncing at least the good people over at Google have understood my pain and decided to make them easier to deal with by creating:

Google Voice (Thanks for the b-day present Turchins). Imagine never having to check your voicemail again to hear, "Hey it's me. Call me back." Thanks to Google Voice, you'll never have to again, unless you want to. Basically what Google Voice does is transcribe your voicemails and sends it to you in a text and/or email. You can read it instantly and then decide whether you want to call the person back or shun them forever. "Awesome!" you say? Wait, there's more. You can filter your calls to different voicemail messages based on who is calling. So now I can have a standard greeting play for whoever but let Kelly know I'm not ignoring her calls, I'm just in class. Plus, you have the option of signing up for a Google phone number that can then route your calls to your cell, your home phone, a business phone, or any combination based on who calls. Best of all, it's free.

Google Mobile and Google Sync. If you have Gmail, use Google Calendar, and have a smartphone, you definitely need to check this out. Before I had to use Outlook or something else to sync contacts, calendars and mail to my phone. Not anymore. After installing a free app on my iPhone and setting up my existing accounts I was all set to sync, no computer software needed.

Google Wave. I totally stumbled across this by seeing an ad on the side of a website for a Google Wave book for developers. "Google Wave? What's that?" I asked myself. Then I asked Google. After seeing a few videos on it here and here, I requested an invite because I had to have it. I was working on a group project at the time and we were having a really hard time working out times to meet and exchange information and files. Google Wave would have solved those problems. It's better to check it out for yourself but basically imagine combining e-mail, instant messaging, photo and file sharing, in a completely collaborative environment all through your web browser. I'm still figuring out all the quirks and I don't really have anyone to 'wave' with to test it out on a real project but I can't wait until I do.

In the end, thanks Google, for taking the things I hate and turning them into toys I want to play around with.

P.s. It's not from Google so it doesn't really fit the theme of the post but Prezi, is the next toy I want to use for a presentation sometime. Powerpoint and other slide based presentations just became obsolete.

Testing iPhone app

The Peterson Clan Year Two

For the second year in a row we took pictures of our dear friends the Peterson's!  You've seen them grace the posts of our blog before...they've got two adorable boys who are often the objects of our camera's affection.  Last year the difficult boy was Dainen.  At the ripe ol' age of 2 Dainen did not want to cooperate with the photographers.  This year though Dainen was a dream...saying cheese...smiling really big...guess if you photograph a kid enough you just train 'em.  This year the difficult Peterson boy was our little Caleb.  Caleb was a perfect baby, never cried, barely ever made any sort of fuss.  He's been making up for lost time since he turned 1, and today played the part of "trouble" like an Oscar winner.  Even with squirms and fussing we still got some great pictures and I'd like to share a few with you all...

How cute are they?

The Angel Child (how unusual for our "I need more bacon" boy!

Good giggles

The Pullman Wheat

A little Caleb attitude...

Some playful mom and dad time...

Okay and here's my favorite shot of the day...it was not posed just a random shot Brian took when he told Elise and Jaaron to center themselves in between giggles and poses and this is what came out.  I call it the Super Model shot... (oddly enough I think Elise looks kinda like my mom in this one)

So there's some of our latest work.  We have another couple that we're friends with who take pictures too, so hopefully in the next few weeks we'll take a day and do a photographer swap and we can finally get some pictures of Brian and I up here!

Love you all.  Sorry we're boring but things have been absolutely insane here.  Had a little "I don't want to be a MIT student" melt down this week but things are getting better.  We'll try and keep you all posted whenever we can!

A Week in the Life . . . Hubby

By popular demand . . . here's my 'typical' week, or at least what I'd like to be 'typical'. I mean, this is what my week should be like, but due to projects, church responsibilities and field trips to Portland I haven't had a 'typical' week since the semester began.

And next week doesn't look any better.

Monday: Wake up around 7:30 am by wife's alarm. 'Nudge' wife lightly with foot to wake her up because the alarm doesn't cut it anymore. Repeat every 9 minutes until 8:00 or 8:15 when Kelly gets out of bed 'nudging' (a.k.a. kicking) me as she leaves as if I was the one snoozing the alarm repeatedly. Go back to sleep while wife leaves me alone as she eats, works out, and showers. Finally wake up to glares from wife as she tells me to really get out of bed. Glare back. Get up, shower, dress and eat breakfast of dry cereal drowning in milk (it only gets gross if you don't eat it fast enough). Grab books and drive to Moscow. Finish up weekend's homework in studio until class starts at 2:30 and something is usually due. Finish class at 5:30 and scratch head figuring out what just happened and wondering what 'archiTECTONIC' really means. Continue to work on homework due on Tuesday until work. Work from 9:00 to midnight at the Library. Go home to passed out wife, tell her I love her, try to figure out grunted reply, and go to sleep.

Tuesday: Wake up at 4:45 am. Perform morning alarm ritual (see Monday) until 5:05 when wife runs out of room leaving me to sleep in peace. Wake up at 7:30, shower, dress, eat (only if I didn't actually wake up at 8:30) and drive to Moscow. Go to class from 9:30 to 1:30, eat lunch then work on homework (usually reading for class at 5:00 that should have been finished over the weekend). Go to class at 5:00, discuss philosophy and architectural theory regarding modernity and post-modernity until 8:00. Scratch head and try to figure out what mimesis means as I drive home. Eat whatever I can find for dinner, watch TV and proceed to fall asleep on couch. Wake up and go to bed around 1:00 am when wife drags me in there.

Wednesday: See morning ritual for Monday. Hopefully ride bicycle to Moscow instead of drive, 'shower' again with baby wipes in bathroom of architecture building, dress, work on studio homework until 2:30 when class starts and something is usually due. Finish class at 5:30, scratch head . . . . Ride bicycle home, shower (yes, again) because Kelly tells me I stink and won't get close to me. Spend time putting off homework, watching TV and discussing what to do for dinner. Go to bed.

Thursday: See morning ritual for Tuesday. Go to class from 9:30 to 1:30, eat lunch and . . . oh yeah, I haven't had a normal Thursday . . . work on homework in studio until work at 4:30. Work at the library from 4:30 to 9:00. Go back to studio and work on homework until midnight (Kelly's not home anyway). Go home, fall asleep on couch . . . see Tuesday and console Kelly while she cries.

Friday: Wake up at 8:00 to wife's alarm, repeat alarm ritual until 9:00. Get up realizing wife is 'feeling wild' (a.k.a. dead tired), shower, dress and eat. Hopefully, ride bicycle to Moscow, 'shower' in bathroom, change, work on homework for studio until 2:30 when something is usually due. Studio from 2:30 to 5:30. Forget about scratching head because it's the weekend! Ride home, shower, see wife (remember her? She's the one that keeps kicking me in the morning). Hang out with wife, friends or whatever, the whole time feeling guilty because I should be working on homework. Go to sleep around 11:00 but probably more like 12:30 because I refuse to be old.

Saturday: Wake up at 6:00. Hit snooze button . . . oh how the tables have turned. Jump out of bed at 7:00 because I slept through the alarm or snoozed it saying, 'five more minutes,' and so did Kelly. Throw clothes on, forget about showering and breakfast, tell Kelly goodbye as she sleeps peacefully, and speed off to work. Unlock library door apologizing to Ian, my morning shelver, because I was 5 minutes late. Work at library until 1:30 (a.k.a. do homework, who wants to check out books that early on a Saturday anyway?). Go up to studio and work on homework until I get sick and tired of school, usually around 8:00 or later (Kelly's not home anyway) depending on amount of homework that needs to get done, or can't be put off any longer. Drive home, eat whatever I can scrounge up in the kitchen. Make a dent in the heaps of dishes that have been piling up all week, of which I've used very few. Watch TV, hopefully soccer that TIVO wonderfully records. Fall asleep before halftime, wake up when Kelly gets home and gets mad because the house is a mess and I was just sleeping on the couch. Go to sleep around midnight.

Sunday: ('The boys' only come over about twice a month so this account is what happens the other half of the month.) Wake up to 10:00 am 'nudging', (usual morning alarm rituals apply). Shower, dress, eat if there's time. Go to church until 2:00, come home and take nap with wife. Jump for joy because we are going to Elise's for dinner (she actually cooks) or 'happily' eat the 'adventure' Kelly prepared ('I don't care what it tastes like, it smells like feeesh'). Watch the rest of the soccer game from last night, unless Kelly wants to pay attention to the TV in which case watch something she likes to see. Go to bed.

Lather, rinse, repeat . . .

Like Kelly, this isn't a pity post. We choose to do this. It may seem like a lot, but usually we can handle it. One final note: Kelly's semester is much busier than what she's used to taking on, mine is intentionally less busy than I'm used to . . . the idea is that we still balance the equation out. I think Saturday night illustrates that this probably isn't the case.

A Week in the Life...

...of Kelly Henry. Wife, Daughter, Manager, Apartment Coordinator, Tutor, Student, and Chemistry Teacher Extraordinare!

So my mother wanted me to write down my weekly schedule...to amaze people, to explain my both physical and mental absences from society lately or to shock people....I'm not entirely sure but I figured since I had a few minutes sitting here in the theater late at night I would oblige her. So here it is a week in the life of me...Kelly Henry.

Monday: Wake up at 8:00am. "Nudge" husband lightly with foot to get him out of bed too. Eat a breakfast of dry Rice Crispies ('cause with milk they get too gross). Talk to self and mutter to the workout DVD ladies about doing the DVD. Work out and sweat like a pig. Take a shower to feel like a real human being. Go into bedroom and tell husband to really get out of bed. Get dressed and ready for the day. Go to class from 10am-1pm. Learn about teaching high school science classes and try not to get slapped by people for your opinions. Go home, eat a quick lunch of...who really knows. Go to work at the movie theater at 2:20pm. Work until 7pm. At 7pm, rush to Stephenson complex and tutor chemistry students until 9:00pm. Drag self back to car and drive home. Say hi to imaginary husband as you walk in the door so as to confuse the creepers in the parking lot. Work on homework until 11:30 or midnight. Go to bed. Wake up at 12:45am when husband crawls into bed and grunt some sort of goodnight.
Tuesday: Wake up at 4:45am. Snooze alarm until 5:05am. Run into shower cursing self for using stupid snooze button. Shower. Eat breakfast of dry cereal again. Put on makeup (hopefully the full face not just half but who knows...). Attempt to dry and do hair to be presentable. Get dressed. Grab a lunch, typically peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich and some dry cereal to snack on during school. Get in car and blast the music to keep self awake. Drive to Safeway parking lot. Sit in car and wait for Gage and Tony (the other poor saps heading to student teaching in the lovely Clarkston, WA "the slums of Lewiston...which is saying something"). Get in respective car for the day and drive down to Clarkston. Listen to music and chat with boys about the ridiculous-ness of the MIT program. Still driving, cause it's a freaking long way to Clarkston. Start singing to the music with the boys and giggle inside at how we've all become so close in such a short period of time! 7:20am arrive at CHS and walk through the halls waiting for Mr. Snook. 7:30am, Snook arrives. Ask him if you can help in any way. He tells you no. So you wander the halls feeling both like a student and a teacher (don't ask how). "Teach" (right now that consists of helping students with worksheets and labs...soon it should be more;) ) Physics, Chemistry, Physical Science, Consumer Chemistry ("real life" chemistry, aka. chemistry without the math), LUNCH (FINALLY!!!!), and Chemistry. Gather self together and meet the boys at the car. Leave Clarkston at 2:45pm. Drive and drive and drive, fighting sleep and talking about our days. Arrive in Pullman around 3:30-3:45pm. Then at 5:00pm (*for the next week thank goodness) go attend a Housing BBQ. Feed and serve strangers for two hours and pack up food. Leave BBQ at 6:45pm trying not to think about hamburgers or hot dogs. Drive down to the theater again and pull in. Rush into the manager's office and change quickly into something more work appropriate. Work at the theater again until closing, which happens to be 12:30am to 12:45am for the past few weeks (stinking Brad Pitt movie!). Try and do some homework after all the employees have gone home. Get home around 12:45am and eat a snack while watching TV over the sound of husband snoring on the couch. Drag husband and self to bed around 1:00am.
Wednesday: Wake up at 8:00am. Same as Monday but school until 12:00pm (whoo! one hour less). Get home and take a cat nap. Do homework until 5:00pm then go to the next BBQ. At 7:00pm come home and see husband. Spend time together doing homework, watching TV and fighting over who has to decide what to do for dinner. Go to be around 11:30pm after doing homework and realizing it will never get done.
Thursday: See Tuesday. Then cry.
Friday: No class. Sleep in to 9:00am or 9:30am if feeling wild! Get up and get ready, doing work out video again because that stupid skinny, buff girl keeps taunting you from the cover of the DVD. Clean around the house (as it has been horribly neglected all week). Do errands that have been put off all week. Do some homework. Then at 2:20pm go to the theater again (aka. second home). Work until 7:00pm. Head home to see husband...who is he again? Hang out with friends or hubby and eat dinner and enjoy self for a brief amount of time. Go to be around midnight or earlier cause you're old.
Saturday: Sleep in a little again...oh what sweet luxury! Try to tune out noises of sad husband as he leaves for work at 7:00am...that was you all week! Do work out. Shower and clean more around house. Do much needed homework and any extra errands. Maybe see...what's the word again?...oh...friends! At 5:00pm go to the theater and work until 10:30pm or 12:30am (depending on how generous Stephen is feeling...normally he's pretty generous...love that guy!). Go home and spend time with hubby. Go to sleep around midnight.
Sunday: Wake up around 8:45am and get the house ready for "the boys" to come over. Help out best friend by taking care of her two little boys (3 and 1) until church. Try to get ready with little boys following around and asking to share your cereal (even though they already had there own...I'm totally NOT selfless enough to be a mom yet!). Leave to go to church and be grateful for helpful husband and the fact that these boys, while precious and wonderful, are only a part time deal. Get home from church. Take a nap with hubby. Next, either go to Elises' for dinner...'cause she actually cooks, or eat something from home...depending on if feeling adventurous or not! Do homework. Watch some TV with hubby (tragically some soccer is usually involved). Go to bed.
...Rinse and Repeat!

I hope that that "brief" (cough!) explanation of my week helps you to see why this blog hasn't been updated and why I look a little crazy. This isn't a pity post, don't feel sorry for me. I chose this and therefore cannot complain. I just wanted to update you all on...well me!

Champions

Let me present the 2009 University of Idaho Intramural Men's Rec-Indoor Soccer Champions. They even captured the score in the background. I'll be signing autographs later this week. (Left to Right, Back: Brian, Brooks, Dustin, Dane, Trevor; Front: Harmon, Conrad, Ryan)

The Me Monster

So Brian Regan has this really funny bit (and I totally won't do it justice) but it's about how some people can become or already are "me monsters". Whenever there is a group discussion going on they always have to chime in with something that they themselves did in order to some how "one-up" the other person.
Anyway...long story short is that I've been meaning to blog about this for some time but haven't had the chance to do so and will now do it. However, timing isn't perfect and so now I look like a "me monster". I in no way want to detract from Brian's photography success...I just want to inform everyone of my big news.
So here goes...
drum roll please...

I recently found out that I have been accepted into the Washington State University Masters in Teaching Program!

Wahoooo!

Some of you may respond as many have already with a "well, duh". But in reality this is not the case. What with the recent economic upheaval that has been going on around the country the university has had to make some serious budget cuts (like turning off the heat in Fulmer (and all other buildings but I only care about Fulmer) after noon every day in an effort to save some money. Personally I think not having the lights on at all hours of the night would save some money too and maybe the heat could be left on until say 5pm after labs are done...but what do I know). Anyway, sidetrack finished. Well what with major budget cuts they ended up cutting a large section of the education program targeted specifically at the Masters in Teaching Program making it a much smaller program. So while some of you may have had total confidence in my abilities...I did not. And so when I got in I was both relieved and super excited. So much so that I told everyone I came into contact with that night about it...even relative strangers. So long story short I got in and I'm super excited because this is what I've been busting my butt for for the last few years and its just a huge relief to know that it wasn't all in vain.

So now that I'm done with my "me monster" bit I apologise as always for the relative cyber silence that has been going on on my end...it will probably continue for a few more months (I believe Brandon said it's something like 85 more days). I am not your typical senior and have quite a heavy load for myself this semester and so am backlogged with posts. One day I know I'll make a better contribution. But until then know that I'm thinking of you all, either while I'm working or while I'm freezing my butt off in Fulmer (I'm always here after noon!)

Gallery Update

Tomorrow I'll pick up my photograph from the gallery. No, not a typo, I did say photograph...singular. I got an e-mail today from the University Art Collections Manager asking me if I would be ok having my photograph of the Moon and Venus over the Kibbie Dome on display in the University Provost's office suite in the Administration Building. Apparently, Provost Doug Baker went to the exhibition and chose about 10 projects he wanted to display in his office for the rest of the semester and through the summer. I sat there staring at the e-mail, with a deer caught in the headlights look I'm sure, for about 2 minutes before I replied saying that I was extremely honored and that I was more than happy to oblige the Provost. I hope I didn't come across so giddy in the e-mail as I am here.

Photographs in Gallery

Last week I entered two of my photographs into the College of Art & Architecture's Juried Art Exhibition. I found out on Monday that both of them were accepted into the Gallery. I was pretty amazed that I made it in because when I dropped off the photos there was some pretty good work already turned in, and not just photos. All I did was set up the shot and click the button, some of these are large sculptures, paintings, etc.

This first one is the Ira Keller fountain in downtown Portland. I took it while I was there on an architectural field trip during the fall semester of 07. The longer exposure, half a second, creates the effect with the water but also makes it difficult because any movement will show up blurry in the final photo. The thing that makes me the happiest about this is that I didn't have my tripod with me when I went to Portland so I had to support the camera on the ground, try to frame the shot while laying down, eyeing it through the viewfinder, propping the camera up with little rocks, the shoulder strap, etc. and setting a timer so I wouldn't shake the camera when I released the shutter.


This photo is of Venus and the Moon just last week. I took it on the 29th, the night before the entry deadline for the exhibition. The night before I had seen Venus and the Moon very close in the sky but didn't have my camera or the time to set up and take a photo. I planned to come back the next day and just hoped that they would still be fairly close. They were, but by the time I got outside to take the photo they were too close to the horizon to get a good image from where I was planning on taking it. I walked around campus a bit and took some different pictures but had to scramble to get this one taken before they "set" behind the Kibbie Dome. This time I had my tripod and remote switch for the shutter release so I didn't have to mess around with the ground and rocks. It was a good thing too because one, the angle from that low wouldn't have worked for the photo and two, I probably wouldn't have had enough time to do it. The exposure was for 8 seconds and you can actually see how far the Earth rotated in that short amount of time if you zoom in on Venus. There are also a few stars that are in the image as well that you can see a short streak as the Earth rotated.


Finally, I put these on my Flickr page, so if you want to see a larger size you can check it out. Also, if you happen to be in the area tomorrow (Friday, February 6th) between 4 and 6 you can come to the gallery opening, or stop by anytime next week as they will be up until Friday.

More on McCall

I know most of you already read the Idaho Business Review, but in case you missed it back in December there was an article written about last semester's studio and the McCall project. Check it out.

McCall Design-Build Models

I've been meaning to put this up for a while now but keep putting it off. I took photos of all of the models we built as a studio for the McCall project this last semester. If you want to check them out they are on my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/henrybriank/. The sets that you should see on the right side of the page will give you a better idea of the progression of the design throughout the semester.

The Benefits of a Hard Major

So I'm nearing the end of the semester and only have one semester left in this five year odyssey that I've been on. These last two years have been extremely tough on me. I've had to push myself farther than I ever thought possible both mentally and emotionally. I've learned more than I thought I would ever learn and have been on several emotional roller-coasters that pushed me more than I would have liked. Overall though I'm very happy with where I am in all of this.
The thing about being a chemistry major though is that there are very few other people crazy enough to do it too. For the last few years in chemistry there are only about 12 other people in class with you. Because of this you get to know those other students really well. This can be good or bad depending on the group. For me...I lucked out...the guys that I'm graduating with are a group of really nice hilarious and fun guys. We all get along really well and have a ton of fun both inside and outside of the classroom.
Last week we had PChem Lab Orals where you have to present a powerpoint presentation about a lab experiment that you performed. During these orals, one of the guys, Trevor, started doing cartoon drawings of all of us...The PChem Presentation Action Figures!!!! These may not be as funny to those of you who don't know all the guys but I wanted to post it anyway, mostly because I think my action figure is hilarous and pretty much an on-the-nose representation of me.



In case it's not clear my action is "5 pre-recorded 200 decible phrases!" and my other favorite parts are our Professor (bottom left) "Their arch nemesis: The Insidious 'Dr. Frenchman' with Mathcad and Wine Battle Box Play set!" with Louis (the professor) saying "Sacre Bleu" and finally where to get one "Sold wherever chem students are subjected to pain, anguish and humiliation". Oh, and no you're not reading it wrong...I am the ONLY girl in that class. In fact I am the only girl graduating this year in our big ol' group of 12. Good thing I've always had more fun with guys than with girls.

Things are starting to get pretty busy around here as professors pile on all those last minute assignments. But soon we'll have a minute to take a breather and fill everyone in on the goings on around here.

Proof Positive that Brian Goes to School

So it's been a while since we've posted anything, but before you get your hopes up, this one's going to be short. However, hopefully it will give you a little bit of an explanation of why we haven't posted anything. Check out the College of Art and Architecture's website. At the very bottom on the left-hand side there is a link that says "Featured Projects," click on that and see if you can pick me out of the line-up. If you need a little help, here's the link to the page.

My Final Medal Count

For those of you who have been asking I calculated the final medal count of the Olympics to be...

China 223 points
USA 220 points

One more gold medal and we would have tied.

I am a syncing fiend

Here's an update on my "Why can't Microsoft play nice?" post. Ok, not really an update just a conclusion to how I got started on the post in the first place, trying to sync my phone and my computer:

I finally got my phone to sync with Mozilla's Lightning for Thunderbird (and if you just want the calendar and not Thunderbird you can always use the stand-alone version Sunbird). Its sort of a round-about-way of getting the job done, and its not perfect, but it will work for now. So for those of you who might want to do something similar or are just curious this is how I got the job done. And if you don't read this post...I'll be ok. I realize that I'm probably the only one out there that really cares this much about using the program I want.

Starting with my phone I have the calendar and contacts sync through Windows Mobile Device Center (Vista, Active Sync in XP) to Outlook 2007 (2003 should work as well). Then using a program put out by Google called Google Calendar Sync I sync my Outlook calendar to a Google calendar (available if you have a Google account). Then using a third-party plug-in for Thunderbird/Lightning called Provider for Google Calendar I can sync my Google calendar to Thunderbird/Lightning, Ta Dah!

There are a few good things about doing it this way other than I get to use the programs I like versus the programs the Microsoft forces me too (even though I'm still forced to). First, by going through Google Calendar you have a html, xml, and ical web address that you can use to publish your calendar. For me it works that Kelly can get my calendar on her computer and subsequently her phone so she knows my schedule or vice versa. Second, again by going through Google you can have your calendar on your iGoogle homepage and therefore see it anytime you open your web browser. This lets you be updated on what you've got going on without having to open up Thunderbird/Lightning/Sunbird. Finally, it's all free (except for paying for Outlook, but I had to do that anyway).

And of course, there are some drawbacks. Hopefully, these will get resolved with future releases of software but for now they are manageable. First, Google Calendar Sync only syncs the default or primary calendars in Google and Outlook, and second, Google Calendars doesn't support categories for events. So even though in Google Calendars you can have multiple calendars on one screen and see all your events in different colors, you can only put one of those calendars into Outlook. And even though you can have different categories, as well as calendars, in Outlook, only the default calendar will sync with Google and all the pretty colors you have to categorize your events won't show up in Google either. Finally, and this might just be my computer, even though you aren't actively using Outlook for anything other than a go between, you have to have it open in order to sync with the Google Calendar Sync. Every time I have Outlook closed the Google Calendar Sync programs freezes when it tries to sync. Then usually I have to open up the task manager (ctrl + alt + delete) to stop a few errant Outlook processes before Outlook will open.

There are other utilities out there that people have claimed will make there Google Calendar Sync with Outlook with multiple calendars etc. but this method worked the best for me. A program called KiGoo, looked promising until I read that it doesn't work with Vista. Another one called RemoteCalendars looked really good but for some reason it wouldn't sync correctly (ie; I delete an event in Outlook, or from my phone, and it never deletes it from Google. Also, recurring events never synced right). Jotlet, is another web-based calendar program like Google Calendars that used another program called Funambol to sync with Outlook but I couldn't get it to work right, plus it's another service you have to sign up for. Calgoo also looked very promising but it didn't find my outlook calendars in order to sync them. Probably the best program is one called OggSync but you have to pay for it, and I'm really cheap. I downloaded a trial version and it worked great except for the fact that in the trial it only syncs the past 3 days, today, and the future 3 days. Not enough if you need to schedule a doctor's appointment 3 months in advance, but in paying for the service you should be fine.

What about contacts you ask. So far I haven't found anything that will sync them and the calendar together that is free and works. So for now I'm just going to have to deal with every so often exporting and importing my contacts from Outlook to Thunderbird, since most of the new contacts I add are on my phone, and any e-mail contacts can just stay in Thunderbird since I don't use my phone for e-mail.

Well there you have it, entirely too much information on a subject that none of you probably care about...unless you spent the past few days figuring it all out like I did.

Don't let the numbers fool you

Let me start off by saying I love the Olympics. I remember watching them on TV as a kid and cheering for the USA in any sport, it didn't (and doesn't) matter if I even understood the game. But one thing I always remember doing is keeping tabs on the medal count. Don't ask me why, but I would always look at it in the newspaper. I guess I just liked seeing how many medals we actually won in the games. So when I saw that I could put the medal count on my iGoogle homepage I was really excited. I heard that China was probably going to take the medal count from us this year so I really wanted to be updated every time I opened up Firefox so I could see how we fare. I had seen the medal count on NBC and was pleased that we were ahead in total number of medals but when I looked at the iGoogle gadget it has China listed first. NBC ranked the countries by total number of medals which currently puts the US in the lead with 54 to China's 47. However in Google they rank the countries by the most gold medals, then silver, then bronze. So that puts China ahead with 27 golds to our 16. Crazy that almost half of those are from Michael Phelps. So I decided to see who was leading the medal count another way. I gave 3 points for every gold medal won, 2 for every silver, and 1 for every bronze. Crunch the numbers and you get China leading the US with 114 points to 102 . . . as of 3:30 pm Pacific time on August 16th. I can't wait to see how it all turns out, not that it really matters. I'm probably not going to move to China if they end up with more medals than us, it just gives me something to do so I don't have to think about starting classes in 9 and a half days (not that I'm counting).

Why can't Microsoft play nice?

Last semester I had some problems with Outlook and syncing my calendar with my phone. I was fine with it at the time because I didn't have much variation in my day to day schedule and I could deal without Outlook, but with the fall semester starting here soon I figured I'd better figure out the whole syncing issue. While I was at it I thought I'd look into other calender programs to see if there would be something out there I liked better. In fact I like so many other programs better than Outlook because I don't need all the big business stuff that Outlook has in it...I just needed something that would sync with my phone. But then that made me remember why I had to go with Outlook in the first place. It is the only thing that will sync with my phone.

Vista comes with a mail program (Windows Mail) that is pretty decent, an address book program (Windows Contacts) and a calendar program (Windows Calendar) that I could use. The problem being that in order to sync with my phone I first had to download and install the Active Sync for Vista, Windows Mobile Device Center. Upon downloading that I found out that I needed Windows Mobile 6 in order to be able to sync with the mobile device center. After finding a download for that and installing it on my phone (by the way, up to this point this all took about 9 months from the point at which I got my computer with Vista) I connected up to my computer to sync my contacts, etc. and Windows Mail, Contacts, and Calendar, don't sync with Windows Mobile Device Center...they don't sync at all. Apparently you have to use Outlook in order for your "Microsoft phone" to sync with your "Microsoft computer" with the "Microsoft applications" that come with it.

So I have two questions, why can't Microsoft get along with Microsoft? And is there something out there that I can use instead of Outlook? I really want to get back to Thunderbird. Mozilla also has Lightning/Sunbird to use as a calender program, but from what I could find there isn't anything out there that will let me sync my phone with those programs. If only I had an iPhone that would sync with the free for everyone iTunes with whatever program I was using for e-mail/calendar/contacts.

After the beep

I feel like I should change my voicemail greeting to something like this:

"Hi this is Brian, I can't answer my phone right now but that probably doesn't matter to you. You must think that by just calling me I'm going to pick up my phone, see that you called, and automatically call you back. Don't worry, I don't have anything better to do with my time, and I like returning every missed call whether I recognize the number or not. Nothing appeals to me more than awkwardly saying, 'who is this and why did you call me,' when you answer the phone. So please hang up now and wait impatiently by the phone for me to call you back."

The only thing that bugs me more, and my hypocrisy is evident, is when I get a message that simply says, "Hi, it's me, call me back." That's even more useless than not leaving a message at all. Is it that much harder to say, "Hi, it's me, Brian, I need to talk to you about _______, call me back," something that takes about 5 whole seconds more to say but reveals 100 times more information?

I envy visual voicemail, if only I had an iPhone.

Le Tour de Palouse

Earlier this summer, after some car problems and rising gas prices, Kelly and I had been talking about saving some money on gas and trying to cut back on how many trips I make back and forth between Moscow and Pullman. There is a great bike path between the two towns that makes it really easy for someone to ride back and forth between the two but my bike wasn't really the right kind for commuting. So we ended up getting a road/touring bike for me and now I ride that back and forth as much as I can...ok, maybe not as much as I can, but enough to cut back a little on how much we end up paying for gas. I've put over 180 miles on the bike so far which seems like a lot, but then when you consider that the Tour de France was 2178 miles long it no longer seems like it's that big of a deal.